Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Beijing on February 3, 2022. (Photo: China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

A day earlier, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Beijing, as they made political preparations for the meeting between the two countries' heads of state.

Wang said Beijing is ready to work with Moscow to deepen the time-honored friendship and comprehensive strategic coordination between the two countries, uphold international fairness and justice, and bring more benefits to the people of the two countries and the world at large. He called on the two sides to build consensus on fighting the pandemic, ensure normal personnel exchanges and trade, and promote steady and long-term development of bilateral pragmatic cooperation.

Lavrov said that Russia-China relationship does not go against any third country.